Hannah Arendt 2026: Systems-Theoretic Reconstruction of Totalitarian Structural Logic and Democratic Alternatives

This working paper develops a systems-theoretic reconstruction of totalitarian 
structural logic based on Hannah Arendt's analyses in "The Origins of 
Totalitarianism" (1951) and "Eichmann in Jerusalem" (1963). 

The central research question: How do Arendt's observations on responsibility 
diffusion, erosion of judgment, and mass isolation manifest in contemporary 
societal structures – and what institutional designs can generate structural 
resilience against totalitarian attractor states?

Methodologically, the work combines political theory with systems-theoretic 
structural analysis and formal modeling. The paper argues that technology 
(social media, AI, big data) does not create new totalitarian structures but 
makes historically persistent mechanisms visible: humans do not reflect by 
default, responsibility diffuses in complex systems, isolation occurs in crowds.

Main finding: Totalitarian orders are characterized not primarily by intentional 
malice but by structural feedback loops that systematically erode individual 
judgment. This extends Arendt's concept of the "banality of evil" with a 
quantifiable process perspective.

The work develops a blueprint for "fail-safe democracy" – institutional 
architectures that make totalitarian attractor states improbable by design. 
It concludes by analyzing why existing political structures (parties, 
representative democracy, bureaucracy) block technological solutions: they 
are themselves part of totalitarian structural logic and would become obsolete 
through its overcoming.

Appendix C provides a complete mathematical specification (F_Asset framework) 
as an implementation-ready governance system with hard constraints for 
auditability, non-surveillance, and automated circuit breakers.